Christmas 2010 Follow-Up

I can now post some of the ornaments I made for gifts since they have been received. I did forget to take a picture of the one I sent to my friend Sandra. OOPS. It was a mill hill beaded ornament kit of a Christmas tree. I did remember to take a picture of the one I sent to my sister-in-law, but I just mailed it yesterday, so no blog on it yet. But, I do have some Christmas photos for you and here we go!! Hang on to your hats.

Here are the ornaments I made for my nieces, Laura and Emily. They are Mill Hill perforated paper and bead kits. I used black brads to attach them to wool felt and added the ribbon hangers.

 Holidays would not be the holidays without devilled eggs.

 My college roommate, Sandra, sent a nice box that included this mug. Isn't it great?

She also sent a blanket for Miss Maddie and one for the people of the house (of which I do not have a picture). The jingle bell collar she is wearing was a gift from Sandra too in 2003 for our other dog. But it fits Maddie too.

 My mother in law sent some nice things which included a memo mouse pad. See the memo sheets on the right and the matching mouse pad on the left. All set up next to my computer.

That about covers it for now! As soon  as the coast is clear I will post a picture of what I sent my SIL. So stay tuned and Happy New Year!!

Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long lives on at It's Daffy Cat

Daffy Cat is reviving the Totally Useless Stitch-A-long  for 2011 all information about it can be found on her blog. Basically on each new moon of the month you post a picture on your blog of your ort jar. Basically you will be posting your monthly orts - even if you have not added any since the last new moon. Daffy is also including some give aways and explains it much better than I, so go check it out.

First new moon of 2011 is Jan 4 so get ready!!

Embroiderers Guild of America, Inc.

Just a short post to tell you about an interesting article I found about EGA, thought some of you might be interested too.

Have a GREAT day!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Chocolate to die for.

One of my coworkers brought a box of Donckels Belgium Truffles for the office. They are sooooo good, I dare anyone (who likes chocolate) to eat just one – especially if you let it melt in your mouth. Not too sweet, just the pure yummy, rich taste of chocolate. It is like chocolate heaven!  I thought you all should know.

Picture of (empty) box:
They did not last long!

Sampler Guild of the Rockies Christmas Tea 2010 continued

This past Sunday was the Sampler Guild of the Rockies 2nd annual Christmas tea. It was a blast! Each table was set for tea for eight. Complete with tea sets, place settings and center pieces. I sat at the blue and white table. A member brought her Willow Wood design place setting (I think that is what she called it) and I wish I had thought to take a picture the table was beautiful - as were all the others. The setting included the creamer, sugar, tea pot and tea plates. My table had blue felt table runners crossing in the middle of the round table; a center piece of pine codes, a silver piler candle and a blue jay. Each plate had a blue napkin with hand made napkin ring consisting of a strip of white paper tied with white and blue ribbons and a big silver bell. Snow cutouts and star glitter were scattered on the table. Writing this now I REALLY wish I had thought to take a picture.

Well when I got home I did take pictures of the goodies I got while at the party and so here goes the show!

Events included a stitched ornament exchange and this is what I made.

It is a freebie chart from Mary Corbet's Needle 'n Thread post on Oct. 8. 2010 about developing a spot sampler I used floss and kreinik from my stash.

Next is the ornament I received from Patti (aka Rocky Mountain Stitcher). It is a Black Bird Design from the Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue. Look closely and you will see SGR and Patti's initials and 2010 in white work at the lower left and right sides. What a nice touch! I tried not to reduce the picture in hopes it will get bigger when you click on it.  The snowman bag also had some yummy cranberry pistachio almond bark (now gone) and a nice card.

Sampler Guild of the Rockies Christmas Tea 2010

Today I will tell you about the door prizes and great make-it take its I got at the Guild's tea this past Sunday. I was one of the lucky ones that got a door prize and here it is. A Periwinkle Promises Snow Days Celebration Kit.

This bag held the three make it and take it kits we all received.

The first thing we made and left with a finished project ready to go! I put it on my Christmas tree when I got home. Inside the starry bag were a readymade tassel and two charms. We chose which one to attach to the tassle. So simple and so pretty too!

Our next project was just as cute, but took a little more work to come out just right.

Our kit included the painted box, fabric, charm and some labels to choose the wording and color to put on the side of the box (see next picture). The fabric had already been machine stitched into a circle. We turned it inside out, stuffed it and closed the seam. We then used perle cotton to divide it into fourths (and attempt to hide the fact that I did not quite get the seam closed right and my circle had a bite out of it! I also took some sewing thread and sewed the points down in a place they would not show.

The next step was to sew the button on through the box top (holes had been drilled in the top if we wanted to put the pin cushion on top - the other option was to put it inside the box). You see which option I chose. The final touch was to stitch on the pear charm.

The third make and take was not exactly a make and take. It is a project we will take home to make and the instructions will be posted on the member only section of the website if members are registered. A sneaky way to get everyone to register if you ask me! Great idea too, I think.

This kit had a small black button, linen and a measuring tape. I will know how to put it all together when the instructions are posted around Dec. 20. But somehow we will make a cover/closure for the measuring tape. Just something else to post about at a later date!!

Stitched Mini Gingerbread House

WARNING lots of pictures in this post (at least for me).

Well, I have been a busy little beaver and now I have quite a bit of stuff to show you. Rather than do it in one gigantic post, I will be spacing them out over the next few days - so....KEEP COMING BACK!

I am home waiting for the furnace guy to come fix the humidifier and the dog is sleeping nearby SNORING. Just thought you should know.

Now on with the stitching!

I am a Face Book Fan of Craft Gossip. A while back they posted a link to Crafty Pod where Sister Diane made a mini gingerbread house. So using her tutorial I made one too and here it is! Ta Da.

First is a picture of the back.

Next is a picture of the front. 

I made up my own roof design, I wanted the look of snow/frosting and I think it came out great (if I may say so myself).

Now I will present you with the building process. Here are all the sides stitched together (I put my initials and date on the bottom). Diane suggested making the peaked pieces first and then making the sides and bottom to size. If I do another one I plan on making the sides a little wider. She also made the windows three dimensional, but I did not want to do that (so I hope you check out her site for her cute house). I stitched each house part separately and added beads to the back window sills and a sequin door knob. I used some kreinik gold to add some glitter to the front. Diane used buttons and snow sequins.

After you stitch all the parts together as pictured above, you then stitch up the sides and stitch the two roof pieces together as shown below.

The last step is attaching the roof, Diane glued it and I stitched mine on - which was a tad tricky. Glue would have been a whole lot easier!

Well that is all for this post. For my next post I will talk about the great time I had this Sunday at the Sampler Guild of the Rockies Christmas tea! So stay tuned.

Christmas Bag

I am on my lunch break and thought I'd give you a quick Christmas related post.

Here is my Christmas bag of stitching. Inside are 10 little kits I hope to stitch up quickly for gifts to my family and friends this year. I try to make them something each year. Sometimes I wait too long and it does not get done, but I hope since these are on the small side and easily finished into an ornament that I can get it done. I will take pictures before they are sent off so you all can see them after Christmas.

The bag is 12 inches tall and 8 inches wide. I got it a number of years ago as the holder of a gift exchange gift. It had an open top and I wanted to be able to close it so my kits would not fall out! So I made a casing for a drawstring and added rivets for the strings to go through. OOPS, the rivets went through the casing too (I often learn by trial and error).

Off to plan B. I added rivets all around the top and wove a ribbon through the rivets to create a draw string. I had an old closure thingy off a backpack (I know they have an official name, but I don't know what it is) which the strings go through and you pinch it to open or close it. I then added a crocheted bead to keep the closure thingy from being pulled off. I bet it will make more sense when you see the picture!!

See the black closure thingy?

Happy Stitching Everyone!!!!!

Not much to report on.

Busy stitching stuff for Christmas gifts and can't post any pictures. So there may be a holiday lull in posting - not even any snow yet to post December snow pix! Just thought I'd let anyone who was interested know I have not fallen off the face of the earth!

Merry, Merry!!



Let the countdown begin!!

Is that right?? Twenty-eight days to Christmas?! Plus, if you are like me and must mail stuff then you really only have about 18 days. YIPES!!!!!!!!!

Let the Stitching Begin!!!

(If it hasn't already).

=]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Well, it is that time again her in the U.S.A. Time to enjoy family and friends and eat good food. If you celebrate (and even if you do not where you are) I hope you have a GREAT day!!

EAT UP!!



My blog has been honored - WOW.

I am a bit slow in getting to my emails, but on November 18 I recieved an email from Cate Newton telling me my blog was featured on the Guide to Art School's list of the top 50 sewing blogs  I did not make the favorite five list, but I did make "The Rest of the Best" list. They said they liked me because "Mary blogs about crafting and sewing projects from her home in Colorado. Inspired by her mother and grandmother, sewing is a family tradition that she brings to life on this blog."

I am quite honored and amazed, plus the list gives me more blogs to check out!

YIKES! Next week is Thanksgiving in the U.S.A.

I am not ready in the least for the feast!!
But I have a few stitched items for the holiday. All stitched in previous years, but they will get this blog in the spirit!

Pumpkin Man

My 2009 Thanksgiving display. Pillow is a Pine Mountain Design.

I forget whose design this is. I stitched it before I blogged. Now I try to keep better track for you all.

These are in my china cabinet. The scarecrow in back is a mill hill bead and floss kit on perforated paper. The banner he is holding says "It's fall y'all". Which I thought was cute 'cause we lived in North Carolina at the time where y'all is used A LOT.

I am not working on any current Thanksgiving stitching. I do have about three things stitched that need to be finish finished, but I may save that for another day!!

= ]

Halloween Follow -up

Many of you expressed interest in this piece that was pictured in my Halloween finishes needing finishing collage. For all you non stitchers that is the stitching was finished, but it had not been made into anything yet. I promised you the information on it whether I finish finished it or not and here it is.

"Hey Diddle, Diddle"

From the Sept/Oct 2003 Issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine

Designed by Sally Farrington of Out on the Porch

Weeks Dye Works threads. Stitched on 25 count linen over 1.

The crow button is not part of the design, it is covering up an oops that I could not frog (I did tell you it was 25 count over 1 right?)

One thing while looking for this design I discovered that in the Nov/Dec. 2003 Issue of Just Cross Stitch was a similar design (same designer, etc.) but it is of a reindeer jumping over a Christmas tree. Very cute, glad I found it...it just may be our Christmas Ornament for this year.

I think that finishes Halloween for this year, now on to Thanksgiving and Christams!!

Happy Stitching Everyone.

= ]

SNOW!!!!!!

Tuesday morning November 9, 2010:

Yes (for any of you who enlarge the picture) those are pumpkins and Christmas lights. We got a very good discount if the lights were installed early (they have been up-but not turned on-since mid October).

Same time of day Wednesday November10:

Do you think it snowed last night? What a difference a day makes. More on the way tomorrow and maybe a bit more this weekend. Well, November is the second snowiest month here (followed by March). It was a wet snow--see how it sticks to the limbs of the trees (and weighs down the bushes)? All those white trees all over town make a very pretty scene.

Where did October go???

Once again "life" took over and I did not get all my Halloween finishes done. I have some Autumn ones that I might try and get done before our Thanksgiving (Nov. 25 this year). We'll see. Must start thinking of Christmas stitching soon too. YIKES!!

Halloween Pillow - A Pine Mountain Design

Completed in 2006.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Candy Corn finish finish finished and happy accident

I was thinking I would have to make a trip to the store to find a Halloween colored cording when a happy accident happened. First I made the candy corn ribbon a little too small to hang on the cupboard knob in my kitchen, so I thought I'd find some orange perle cotton and make a small hanger. Well, low and behold in my #3 perle drawer there was the perfect orange, yellow and white color threads. Now I had already cut the skeins in half, but I made a twisted cord anyway and it fit all the way around the stitching!! So sooner than I thought I give you the finished finish of the corn, front and back! I think you will be able to tell which is which : ]

I still need a way to hang it on the knob and the glue is still drying, but it is done!!

Halloween Finish 2 - Candy Corn

I finish finished another Halloween project. This is a candy corn done at my ANG group last year (if not the year before)! It was designed by one of our chapter members and is not commercially available. The back has some fun candy corn fabric, but some of the canvas still shows and I will need to add some cording around the edge to pretty it up - but I think it is worth a post!!

Happy Halloween Stitching Everyone!!

Another Give-away - 'Tis the Season I guess

Teresa of at willow tree pond is celebrating her 100th post with a give-away of some cool stitching stuff on her blog. Check it out - I just love her blog header picture too.

Fun Halloween Give-away

Check out the "Spooktacular Halloween" give-away over at Dixie Sampler . She has a nice looking blog which is worth a peak as well. I just love finding new (to me) blogs to read, now I just need more hours in the day!

American Patchwork Update 3

A quick switch from Halloween and back to the Fourth of July. I was on a roll recently and finished the stars and blue field of the American Patchwork. Some of the edges are uneven due to way it will be finished - a surprise for later (just not sure how much later)!

Now I am not sure if I will do all the white stripes then all the red stripes, or each block as it arrives in the book and placed as charted (which will mean scattered all over - kind of hard to explain) or just work from the top down. Decisions, decisions.

Happy Saturday Everyone!!!

Halloween Mini Cube Finished

Thanks to you all I am going to try and finish finish the Halloween stuff before posting, but if that can't be done I will still show the unfinished stuff. So first I give you the Halloween Motifs which was part of a monthly series called Seasonal Blocks (little cubes about 1 inch square) put on in 2003 by Fireside Stitchery which is a shop in Frazer, PA and does mail order too. I stitched the Easter cube and the Halloween cube (woo hoo 10 to go)! I told myself I would absolutely NEVER join another monthly club again!!! So a few years later I joined the monthly cookie cutter club! All kits safely stored in my stash closet! Dare I tell you that in 2007 I also joined a slightly different monthly club - a kit came every two months and it will make a Halloween cat. Maybe one day I can show you all!! Can you guess, Fireside Stitchery is such an enabler!

Back to the present. This is a Kathy Schenkel Designs Painted canvas with stitch guide, and kit. I will give you a picture of it flat so you can see all the motifs and then a picture of it made into the cube - which I did last night. I could have also purchased the optional bead kits to make a beaded tassel and hanger, but I opted not to do that. If I had done that, they would be in the areas without the motifs.

Happy October everyone!!

Mass of Halloween stitching followup

Thanks for the comments everyone. I too love the kitty jumping over the pumpkin. It is over one and I added the button to cover up an oops (practically impossible to to reverse stitch over one on that count - at least for me). It is from a magazine and I can't recall which one!! But do not fear, I will look for it and post the information for you when I post the picture of it. Just be patient! (I know you will be).

Happy Fall Stitching everyone, Christmas will be here in no time (for all you Christmas stitchers).

Mass of Halloween stitching

As you can see in this photo I have done a bit of autumn/Halloween stitching in the past - but not much finishing. Off hand I can think of four finished autumn or Halloween finishes. I will try to bring them all (finished and unfinihsed) to you one by one this month. As long as I do not dawdle too much it should get done.

A Halloween scene from the China Cabinet

Happy Halloween!!

I think for October I will post some of my Halloween stitching. This was a kit I picked up at a shop in Arizona a number of years ago. The skeleton is worked on white perforated paper and it is glued to a black easel backed cardboard. Sorry, but I gave the chart away and do not know the designer (it would be bad taste to have made a copy of the design you know). He stays in my china cabinet all year long with his other buddies seen here.

Milestone Birthday

A few weeks ago I had a milestone birthday and I don't feel or act my age at all! My college roommate and I continue to be friends even though she is on the east coast and we have not seen each other in a long time. She sent me some great socks...

Also in the box was a stuffed rabbit dog toy for Miss Maddie - her birthday is Oct. 25, but I gave it to her early...

Last but not least, my brother visited me from California. We spent a very nice 5 days togeter. First stop was a burger from Sonic...

We also visited the Denver Mint (no cameras allowed) and Buffalo Bill's Grave and Museum up on Lookout Mountain. It was a bit cloudy so the view was limited, we went for lunch at the nearby Cody Inn (Buffalo Burgers for everyone) and then went back to the museum. Enough clouds had cleared we could see the mountains, the Coors Brewery, the Table Tops and a little bit of downtown Denver. Still too misty to see much of the plains. We headed a bit west to see if the Buffalo herd was visible, but they were no where in sight. While he was here, we also checked out a few antique shops in town, ate at some nice restaurants and generally just hung out together. We did play Farmville at the same time on seperate computers and he was able to instantly give me stuff I needed, cause I was right there on-line. That about covers it for now!

Colorado Stitcher has a New Look

A couple of days ago I looked through and tested various blogger templates and chose this one - it is part of their awsome template group. I also decluttered by blog a bit my putting a lot of my lists on individual pages - the tabs are at the top of the blog. Blogspot lets you have up to 10 pages that you can link to from your blog.

Please let me know what you think of the new look!

American Patchwork update 2

I have been working on the field of stars so I am posting a picture focusing on this area. I have not worked on any red or white stripes. Here is what I have so far.

Happy Stitching!

American Patchwork Update 1

I have been working on my Debbie Stiehler piece off and on. I have one row of blue done and working on others. I am stitching it one blue box (star) at a time. There are 5 different blue stars for this section and I am doing them in numerical order, so there is some bouncing around. My needle is in the last Blue 3 star (top stitched row far left) and then I will move on to number 4. I find it easier to do all of one type at a time, but I did goof on one placement. The nice thing about this piece is it really does not matter if a box is out of place. After I get the stars done I will move to either the red stripes or the white, not sure yet.

Have a great day everyone!

American Patchwork - Debbie Stiehler Update

Now that I have gotten my GCC and Sampler Guild Project done I put American Patchwork back in the floor stand and am working on it - at least until the Christmas Stitching takes over. I finished another star last night. Here is the progress so far.

French Sewing Box - Fini

I finished my box Friday night and took it to today's meeting. Quite a number of boxes were finished and it made for a nice display.  The top picture shows the inside of my box and the second picture shows the inside and the top. The angle of the top picture makes it look a little warped, but it really is a round box!  I was able to make this project almost entirely from stash. I only had to buy some poster board for the lining and the wood box. I have decided to try and do as much as I can using my stash in an effort to save some money. But new stuff is fun too, so I am sure to need something and will help keep my needlework shops in business!

Now on to the next stitching adventure!! Actually I have placed the needlepoint flag project back on the floor stand and will work on getting that done, or at least make a dent in it before the Christmas stitching needs to get started!

Sampler Guild of the Rockies Sewing Box - update

As you may know from some previous posts I am working on a Sampler Guild of the Rockies (SGR) project called a French Sewing Box. Everyone who finishes by the September 12 meeting gets a surprise gift. And by finished they mean stitched and inserted into the box. Here is my progress so far - I have inserted the top.

The next step is to line the inside and insert the bottom. I missed the meeting that passed out the kits with the cardboard to use as the lining so I need to get something. I am thinking poster board. I used (and am using) mat board for the round inserts. The top was not problem and I created a paper template for the bottom so I think that will be ok. I just need to get the stuff for the lining. Did I tell you this is "due" in 3 days?

It is my birthday month = more posts?? & GCC Assissi

This is my birthday month. So my gift to you (har har, too big for my britches) is more posting! Here is a picture of the critique I got back recently for my GCC Assisi. The instructor was Marion Scoular and you will see that she hand writes all her critiques (and courses too). Very classy and nice handwriting too. You would never be able to read it if I wrote it out by hand! Also pictured is my completion certificate from EGA. Sorry the picture is not great, but since it is not the actual stitching I am letting it go as is!

Now to get back to work on my French Sewing Box!

SGR French Sewing Box - Base Completed!

Last night I finished stitching what will be on the bottom inside of the French Sewing box mentioned in a previous post (Sept. 2). Now I just need to put it all together. Everyone who finishes the box gets a surprise gift at the Sept. 12 meeting, so I best get finishing!!




And now I leave you with a picture I hope makes you giggle just a little. Have you met Miss Maddie? The dog who sleeps like a people?

Have a great day everyone!